Running Red
by ShatteredxRoses
Summary: Sadistic, Ruthless, Cruel. Typically used words to describe them. But were they really?


_A/N_ Hello all! I'm not an avid writer, but I decided to try it out to perfect my writing skills. Please no harsh reviews, this story is purely for entertainment.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights to Suzanne Collins

 _Crimson liquid pooled around her motionless body, her chest was barely rising and falling, and when it did, it was faint and forced. She could see herself, they often talked about out of body experiences in school, though she never believed them to be true. Except for now. She could hear the hovercraft humming in the distance, a sign that her death was inevitable, the wounds to her body too severe for anyone to survive. With one last struggled breath for oxygen, she gave up and let herself slowly slip away. The cannon boomed, and she knew that she was gone._

Clove woke up to her sheets soaked in her own perspiration, gasping for the breath she had just lost in her dream. Running a hand through her damp hair, she peered out of her bedroom window to see that the sun had just began to peak over the horizon. Sunshine on a day like the Reaping was a cruel act of nature in her mind, sunshine meant happiness and hope, but the reaping only meant guaranteed death for twenty three innocent kids.

Coming from such a plentiful and respected district, Clove knew she was well prepared for the games, District Two had been known to begin training children for the games as soon as they could toddle. However, as soon as she hit the ripe age of twelve, she knew that she had taken all of her training classes for granted, because that was when the reality of being reaped set in.

Now sixteen, she only had her name enttered in five times, perks of being a child of one of the wealthiest families in the district she supposed. But being the child of some of the few renowned doctors in her district had its disadvantages as well, as she always figured that it was highly unlikely her name would _ever_ be heralded out in front of the crowd, five times was nothing compared to the adolescents from the less fortunate parts of the district who had their names entered more times than she could count on her fingers. Plus, she always figured that if she was chosen, another girl eager to fight for the title of victor would volunteer to take her place, even if she was disliked by many of the girls for her wealth and status.

Clove's thoughts were abruptly interrupted when her older brother, just out of the running at age nineteen, Calin burst through her door. "You do realize that we have to leave in an hour right?" He asked, leaning against the door frame, "Mom and Dad le-"

"-Left early, Cal, I know. They do every reaping."

The reaping in District Two had the tendency to be turned into a social event for the higher class of the district. It was a chance for them to all be in the same place at once and brag to one another about their recent successes and future endeavors. Clove's parents made it their mission to be the first one at these events, it had been that way since she could remember.

He rolled his eyes at her, and drummed his fingers against her wall, "Well if I were you, I would change out your night clothes and into something nice, you know how they get when we don't look perfectly presentable." His tone dripped with disdain. Clove swung her legs over the side of her bed and pushed herself up, swiftly making her way to her closet. She rummaged through her clothes for a few seconds before pulling out a laced white dress, "Ah," she muttered, "the most expensive yet simple thing I own. Think this will be good enough for them?"

Calin chuckled darkly before nodding his head in approval. "Just come downstairs when you're ready."

She gave a slight incline of the head to his request and shut the door behind him as he walked out. Turning around, she took one last look at her disheveled bed, the result of her nightmare, and shook her head. "Me? In the games? That's crazy, Clove, I don't even know why you're thinking about it." She softly muttered to herself, shaking her head as she began to get ready.


End file.
